[Football] So we're stuck with a failed Middlesbrough manager until Dec 2024.............

[Braggfan]

Given the obvious replacement is Potter, I’m very happy he’s signed an extension

Absolutely, I think he's the stand out option when Southgate goes, and I think the England job would have been the first serious test for us in being able to hold on to Potter. I'm delighted that Southgate has signed an extension as I think we can stop worrying about Potter leaving for a few years now.

 

[keaton]

I disagree with some of his decisions but looking at results he's done an excellent job and last week I looked at the bookies favourite list to replace him and was very happy he was sticking a new deal

 

[Javeaseagull]

I think he is a lucky manager so on that basis I'm in.

 

[Springal]

Slightly odd that the contract runs until the end of the qualifying campaign and not a tournament ?

But agreed I think Southgate is a bit under rated in many areas. The squad he has now is no better than 2002 or 2004 but he has broken down the barriers between the different teams, got a cohesive squad together. I do think ultimately he failed at the Nations League & got done in Russia SF against Croatia - but Modric was unbelievable that game. But fact of the matter is he is consistently the best manager we have had in a long time.

And if he goes who do you get?

 

[stewart12]

I'm not an England fan but this is comfortably the best I've seen England be on a consistent basis. Have comfortably qualified for 3 tournaments, gone deep in the 2018 World Cup and the 2021 Euros. Yes England arguably had quite favourable draws in both of those tournaments but I can remember England underperforming against all sorts of dross over the years

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Pretty much sums up my thoughts.

Some of his squad selections are inexplicable and he doesn't seem to have the ability to affect a game once it's started but his plus points outweigh the negatives. It's pretty hard to argue convincingly against his record. A semi final and then a final in back to back tournaments. That's more than we achieved in the previous TWENTY FOUR tournaments.

Yes, ideally I'd like to see a more adventurous approach with greater use of our plethora of attacking options but if he can't figure a way to maximise them then what he's doing is fine.

Indeed.

Of all the game changing English managers over the last 30 years that spring to mind, only Venables hits the double top. But his man management skills were very old school, and he wasn't keen on black players judging by their virtual absence in the England squad, so no treble 20 or bull.

Today there is nobody else in the frame for the job, assuming we want an Englishman. As noted above, the leading English EPL manager presently is, indeed, GPott.

 

[Monkey Man]

One of the things we've learned in the Southgate era is that you don't necessarily have to be a successful club manager to be a decent international manager. In fact you could argue they are very different jobs requiring very different skillsets.

Quite happy with the extension to his contract.

 

[nwgull]

Think GS has done OK - but he could do better if he just refined the club England model and DID pick players in form or at least acknowledge that some England players are wretchedly out of form - especially when it comes to actual tournament football where the greatest teams will ultimately target and expose poor individual form.

PS. The most ludicrous issue is around player age. Players peak at different times. Pick players in outstanding form to Win in Qatar (spit) be it Dunk, Tarkowski or Ben Mee rather than a misfiring Maguire, Mings, Stones who WILL get found out if they’re bang off it.

Picking players on the basis of club form would result in several completely different sets of players in the England starting 11 throughout the 2 year qualifying and tournament cycle. Keeping it consistent with a view to peaking at the business end of the cycle is what Southgate does well, and it helps with the team spirit and understanding when you’ve got a consistent bunch of players at each squad get together and set of matches. I don’t really care how poorly players like Maguire play for their respective clubs as long as they perform for England when it matters - which is at the tournaments.

Something else Southgate does well is to pick the best team as opposed to the best 11 players. Seeing SGE trying to shoehorn Scholes, Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard into the same midfield time and again was frustrating.

 

[stewart12]

I don't necessarily think club form reflects on international form. In fact I think the failure of previous managers has been trying to shoehorn in 11 in form players into a system that doesn't necessarily work, all the time not really knowing their best 11

There's been loads of players who look great at club level and then shit their pants in an England shirt- there's many factors that can impact on club form...their manager, fitting into one specific system, feeling comfortable at the club, playing alongside a player who brings the best out of them...all of which don't necessarily translate to international form

Similarly, you can get players who aren't anything special at club level but slot right in at international level, I'd say several of Germany's 2014 squad fit into that category

 

[Danny Wilson Said]

Nobody is ever going to agree 100% with his selections, least of all me. There's flawed logic many a time, and he's been caught like a rabbit in the headlights both times in the WCSF and the ECF, failing to react or do anything to turn the tide from a position of early superiority.

But he's taken us deep in both tournaments, which we've qualified comfortably for as well as the upcoming one. There's a calmness and harmony around the squad that he's engendered. The players like and respect him, and he seems to have made playing for England far less of a chore than it seemed to be under his predecessors. In fact, the likes of Kane and Maguire seem to revel in the break from club football it gives them.

I'm happy he's staying on, he seems well cut out for it. To anyone grizzling - who would YOU rather have ?

I'd certainly rather play against Andorra and San Marino than Man City and Liverpool, and even Watford. Congratulations to Gareth Southgate for making that happen for Slabhead.

 

[Bracknell_Gull]

Indeed.

Of all the game changing English managers over the last 30 years that spring to mind, only Venables hits the double top. But his man management skills were very old school, and he wasn't keen on black players judging by their virtual absence in the England squad, so no treble 20 or bull.

Today there is nobody else in the frame for the job, assuming we want an Englishman. As noted above, the leading English EPL manager presently is, indeed, GPott.

Sol Campbell, Paul Ince and Les Ferdinand were all in the Euro 96 tournament squad?

 

[Silverhatch]

Picking players on the basis of club form would result in several completely different sets of players in the England starting 11 throughout the 2 year qualifying and tournament cycle. Keeping it consistent with a view to peaking at the business end of the cycle is what Southgate does well, and it helps with the team spirit and understanding when you’ve got a consistent bunch of players at each squad get together and set of matches. I don’t really care how poorly players like Maguire play for their respective clubs as long as they perform for England when it matters - which is at the tournaments.

Something else Southgate does well is to pick the best team as opposed to the best 11 players. Seeing SGE trying to shoehorn Scholes, Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard into the same midfield time and again was frustrating.

Wasn’t clear in my post. I like the club England GS approach and think it is right to operate a settled squad especially for qualification. Nevertheless, shoehorning out of form players into must-win tournament football has to be a mad strategy, especially when playing elite sides at the business end of a tournament. I also didn’t put enough emphasis on the idea of including only ‘Outstanding’ players across the season to complement those players who have been a settled part of the England set up irrespective of their age. For instance (and this is highly unlikely) if Adam Lallana or Danny Welbeck had the most stellar few months with Albion - lifting us into the upper echelons of PL football with truly outrageous goal scoring/creating performances - why should they be discounted from helping us win this World Cup even though they are NOT the future of English International football?

 

[Springal]

Wasn’t clear in my post. I like the club England GS approach and think it is right to operate a settled squad especially for qualification. Nevertheless, shoehorning out of form players into must-win tournament football has to be a mad strategy, especially when playing elite sides at the business end of a tournament. I also didn’t put enough emphasis on the idea of including only ‘Outstanding’ players across the season to complement those players who have been a settled part of the England set up irrespective of their age. For instance (and this is highly unlikely) if Adam Lallana or Danny Welbeck had the most stellar few months with Albion - lifting us into the upper echelons of PL football with truly outrageous goal scoring/creating performances - why should they be discounted from helping us win this World Cup even though they are NOT the future of English International football?

Do you not think there is an element of consistency as well? So you can't really keep chopping and changing players based on short term form. John Stones bucked the trend of not playing at all but had a great tournament I thought. So bringing in a few players who haven't been involved in previous squads suddenly means they take a while to get up to speed. Surprised Ben White hasn't made recent squads though given his inclusion at the Euros.

 

[hart's shirt]

As a man-manager and getting players from rival clubs to gel and bond, he's excellent.

And he's deservedly kept his job on England's performances in major tournaments. Results-business and all that.

That said, he's not a great tactician and is naturally defensively-minded. Our attacking midfield riches aren't being fully utilised.

He's not the first though to struggle with that - England's 'Golden Generation' were hindered by an inflexible 442 system.

The video's 4 years old now, but all England fans don't want to see history repeated in years to come.

Some things have changed for better, especially with team spirit and young players coming through, but some concerns remain.

Build your system around the players that you have.

 

[sydney]

yes , yes we could but Southgate is a boring , middle for the road , white , lower middle class(until his new deal) , line towing , yes , yes, yes man and i'm finding it really hard to get excited with him in charge , perhaps Dennis Wise and Vinny in the dugout would create some positive vibe ...!

far too defensive minded , negative and afraid of losing against quality opposition .......no use having a ferrari if you never get it into third gear .....have a go you mug...!!

 

[Swansman]

As a man-manager and getting players from rival clubs to gel and bond, he's excellent.

And he's deservedly kept his job on England's performances in major tournaments. Results-business and all that.

That said, he's not a great tactician and is naturally defensively-minded. Our attacking midfield riches aren't being fully utilised.

He's not the first though to struggle with that - England's 'Golden Generation' were hindered by an inflexible 442 system.

The video's 4 years old now, but all England fans don't want to see history repeated in years to come.

Some things have changed for better, especially with team spirit and young players coming through, but some concerns remain.

Build your system around the players that you have.

Sven very rarely used 4-4-2 in his club sides. I distinctly remember him saying that plenty of English players had no experience and no knowledge about playing any other formation so they had to go with that.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Sol Campbell, Paul Ince and Les Ferdinand were all in the Euro 96 tournament squad?

But he didn't appear keen on having more than one on the pitch at any one time. The fact that there was no comment about this was probably a sign of the times, though.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Do you not think there is an element of consistency as well? So you can't really keep chopping and changing players based on short term form. John Stones bucked the trend of not playing at all but had a great tournament I thought. So bringing in a few players who haven't been involved in previous squads suddenly means they take a while to get up to speed. Surprised Ben White hasn't made recent squads though given his inclusion at the Euros.

Judgingby White's Arsenal performances, he looks like a worse defender than Stones, albeit his forward passing and occasional runs are superb. He wasn't even our third best defender, if you recall

 

[Billy the Fish]

Club CV means nothing at international level, just look at Capello.

I tend to think it's about man management as much as anything else and Southgate is great in that department. He's got Steve Holland with him for the coaching.

 

[herecomesaregular]

But he didn't appear keen on having more than one on the pitch at any one time. The fact that there was no comment about this was probably a sign of the times, though.

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Sol Campbell had an injury prone season before Euro 96 and that is why he only made one subs appearance. Think you are trying to make something out of nothing here. He played Vince Hilaire in his team of the 80s. Hope you have something a bit more to back up your rather negative implications?